


Martinis and existential regret

by Residesatshamecentral



Series: A Plague On Both Your Houses [2]
Category: SS-GB (TV)
Genre: As you do, Cold War, Evil!Springer, bespoke spy stuff, discussions of Douglas Archer, maugham casually dissecting peoples psychologies, the 50s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 08:36:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16036844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Residesatshamecentral/pseuds/Residesatshamecentral
Summary: A fragment of that 1950′s set thriller I may never fully write where Huth is working against a thoroughly evil and corrupted  Springer for British Intelligence and W. Somerset Maugham is his puppetmaster. Mood and characterisation shamelessly pillaged from ‘The Other Side Of Silence’  By Philip Kerr.





	Martinis and existential regret

“How long did you know him?” asked Maugham, without looking up. He mixed himself a martini with the unthinking expertise of a professional. They were sitting on the patio of the Villa Mauresque. the setting sun was a diminishing glow above the darkening sea.

Huth flung a leg over the arm of his chair. “Perhaps a month…I never knew quite if I admired him or despised him…he was too naive, or maybe it was just wilful blindness…”

“You envied him.” Maugham’s voice was quiet.

Huth was very still. His eyes flashed “My, you are wasting your time as a writer. If you can see into peoples souls, why not go on the stage, old man? Or try for world domination? How dare you make assumptions about me, you shrivelled old degenerate?” Maugham grinned faintly and added an olive to his drink.

“You envied him because he had preserved what you sold, and you regretted sale. I am sure you wanted to make him do the same -”

“I wanted him to be practical” murmured Huth, his face almost still.

“But you knew you were being perverse when you pressed him, and you hated it, and you knew he would hate you. You saw yourself in him, the self you left behind. You wanted a way back into the past. Believe me, I understand that. We can never win back what we bargain away, and the price…the price is never what we thought it would be…” Maugham sighed. “The mere fact that you mention him says a good deal. This is your attempt to make good, is it not? No, don’t interrupt me” He held up a hand as Huth drew breath “I know the fellows threatened to extradite you to Berlin, but I think if you truly wanted to, you could go to ground and escape all this. You want redemption” He grinned inscrutably “Rather a good plot, if a little hackneyed.” 

Huth grinned. “Very impressive.” The old man waved his hand in an elaborate gesture. “Just about every world you just said was wrong” Huth continued. “I think you should stick to short stories, and leave psychology to the professionals.” Maugham just looked at him. The lamps cast a dull glow over the lines and crags of his face. Age had given him the look of a Komodo Dragon that has eaten too many lawyers and acquired a nasty tendency to sue.

“As you say, dear.” He took a sip of his drink, and studied the dimming skyline. “Now. Tell me what you know of Albrecht Springer’s weaknesses…”


End file.
